SANDAKAN: The Sessions Court here sentenced a 65-year-old local man to five years’ jail plus two strokes of the cane for sexually assulting a nine-year-old girl.
The accused had pleaded guilty to a charge before Judge Indra Ayub under Section 14 (a) of Sexual Offences against Children Act 2017 (Act 792), read with Section 16 of the same Act, which carries a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison and whipping.
According to facts of the case, the accused had on May 31, this year at about 11am asked the permission of the victim’s grandfather to take the victim to his farm in Mile 32, Kampung Segaliud.
At the farm, the accused assaulted girl by inserting his finger into the victim’s vagina. The accused then sent the victim back and left her alone by the roadside near a grocery store at Mile 16 in Kampung Gum Gum.
The victim related the incident to her mother, who then lodged a police report the next day (June 1, this year).
The accused, who was not represented by a lawyer, pleaded guilty during the first reading of his offence.
Deputy Public Prosecutor, Mark Kenneth Netto prosecuted the case.